Panbela Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PBLA), a clinical stage company developing disruptive therapeutics for the treatment of patients with urgent unmet medical needs, today announced Regulatory approval for the opening of trial sites in Spain, France and Italy for Panbela's clinical trial in the first-line treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer. ASPIRE is a global randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate ivospemin in combination with gemcitabine and nab-Paclitaxel in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Detailed information on the trial can be located at

With approximately 95 sites planned throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, and South Korea, we are continuing to focus on site initiation and enrollment in order to ultimately deliver a more effective treatment for pancreatic cancer, a deadly disease with few treatment options. Site initiation can now accelerate, and we are pleased with the current momentum of the ASPIRE trial. We expect that a significant number of global sites will be open by year-end with the full complement of sites open by the first quarter 2023. "We're excited to have these recent approvals as we move forward towards the interim analysis which is expected to be completed in early 2024," commented Jennifer K. Simpson, PhD, MSN, CRNP, President & Chief Executive Officer of Panbela.